Telling Stories: Ordinary People

Issue 100 January 2013

The beauty of emel has been the ability to bring the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Such individuals are the beacon lights of our community, who, through their dedication, self-sacrifice, and vision, are an inspiration to us all.

The beauty of emel has been the ability to bring the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Such individuals are the beacon lights of our community, who, through their dedication, self-sacrifice, and vision, are an inspiration to us all. Their success and their work needs to be highlighted so that they can illuminate the way, give hope, and act as role-models for those that may follow in their footsteps.

The achievements of ordinary people across a diverse and eclectic range of professions and encounters, are manifest examples of the diversity and contribution that Muslims are making to the world today.

The powerful work of Oxford professor, Lutfi Radwan, who exchanged his lecturing work for an organic farm, leads the way for a wholesome expression of our treatment of animals as was the way of the Prophet, who exalted care for all of God’s creatures. Lutfi and his wife Ruby give hope that food doesn’t just have to be just halal, but it would be tayyab as well.

Ifitkhar Ahmed’s smallholding in rural Wales brings the ancient skills of horsemanship and archery, which are every Muslim’s inheritance, and makes them accessible to the modern Muslim. Teachers, such as Fahmeeda Rashid, architects like Ruby El-Kanzi and pilot, Captain Mubashir Khan, are all examples of Muslims working in the highest echelons of professional life and are role-models, emphasising the Islamic concept of ihsaan, excellence, which the Prophet exalted.

We have also had the pleasure of detailing the stories of those who have embraced Islam in adult life, through searching intellectual enquiry and spiritual journeys. Individuals such as Myriam Francois-Cerrah and Henrietta Szovati, who have narrated their stories on how ordinary people find the faith of Islam, often within extraordinary cir-cumstance, is a wonder—particularly given the general negative perception of Islam in the modern world.